A Longed For Messiah

Belief in a soon-to-come messiah was deep-seated among the Jews long before the time of the Maccabean revolt (144 BCE), and the fervor of that belief by that time had virtually elevated that expected savior into a secondary god.  The Ethiopic book of Enoch, for example, reveals that entrenched veneration by saying, “Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was called before the Lord of Spirits.”  In this glorification of the expected messiah there is found the influence of Babylonian myth.  And in this is also found the seed from which Christianity would evolve.  (If you are unfamiliar with the book of Enoch, it is because it was one of the many quasi-religious Jewish writings that were not included as part of the Old Testament because the zodiacal references did not contribute to the idea of a cult leader authority.)

The yearned for messiah was fashioned upon the legendary Israelite deliverer named Jeschu (Joshua), and Jewish literature such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastics, and Enoch reflect a background of centuries of polytheistic ideas among the tribal Hebrews.  Hellenism became an influencing factor upon tribal faith, causing mounting dissatisfaction with pure Judaism among the Jews after the Babylonian captivity (c. 597 and 587/586 BCE), but before the destruction of the Temple (August of 70 CE).  Ceremonial “law” and endless taboos, sacrifices and superstitions  provided individuals little inspiration to act virtuously.  Almost in defiance of priest control there developed a correlation of Jeschu/Joshua with the Greek Logos, and that association as Son of God and messiah is suggested in the Pentateuch.  Thus the name Jesus, derived from Jeschu/Joshua, became revered among some factions of Judaism long before the appearance of the Jesus cult in Rome.  This claim is strengthened in the fact that about a century before the death of Herod (44 CE), there is recorded the public execution of a man named Jesus and his body was hung upon a tree.  The name recorded was Jesus ben Pandira, and it was recorded in the reign of the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus.

There are old documents which show that the early cult of Jesus, in rivalry with law-obsessed  Judaism, was attracting converts among the Jews after the Babylonian captivity.  In the oldest document of this older cult the central feature was the eucharist—the sacrament in which bread and wine (or water) are consecrated, then consumed in memory of a revered deity (a deity that usually had been sacrificed).  This rite was common in many of the  so-called faith practices of the Mideast region in this era, but the eucharist rite was practiced in secret usage among the Jews who were becoming discontent with the frustration and futility of tribal ceremonial “law.”  The point labored for here is that this places familiarity with the name Jesus as messiah nearly a century before the Roman authors of Mark and Matthew introduced the character of Jesus to the Roman public.  On the whole, however, those early Jesus cult writings were aimed primarily at those discontented Jews who wanted a more moralizing and uplifting form of faith.

The original character of Jeschu/Joshua had several attributes which were always associated with Pagan sun gods—the alleged power of halting the course of the sun, for example.  But in the Yahweh priests’ version Joshua was reduced to human status.  This sun god relationship thus became echoed throughout Jesus cult writings with Joshua’s namesake, Jesus, saying, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  True of the light from the sun, the verse declares, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  It is from this sun-god association that most Christian sects proclaim their faith on Sunday–the day of the Sun.  (The day for holy observance among the Jews is Saturday, the day of Saturn.)

In 60 BCE Jerusalem was captured by Rome; forty-six years later, in 06 CE, Judea was annexed by Rome; by 55 CE the proportion of Jews in the Empire was over twenty percent; by 66 CE the constant religious egotism of the Jews flamed into rebellion.  That portion of the Roman Empire was a source of continuous friction.

When Octavian became sole master of the Roman world in 27 BCE, becoming Emperor Augustus, his empire spread  from Africa, Asia, Gaul, Spain and Dalmatia, so preserving order in each part of the empire was vital for unity and continuance.  By the time that Emperor Augustus died in 14 CE, the Roman populace had become fascinated by the exotic character of cults and rituals such as Mithras (Persian), Isis (Egyptian), and Cybele (Phrygian).  The acceptance of these gods within Rome had made for easier  transitions and cooperation with these subdued regions.  So the Jewish Jesus cult in the Judean region would not have gone unobserved by the Roman aristocrats an literati, for the Empire continued to be constantly troubled with Jewish haughtiness.  Thus, around 50-55 CE, as the more hardline Jews kept being fanned into periodic insurrections, a few Roman aristocrats and literati began to toy with the idea that it could be politically advantageous to cultivate that deviation of the Jesus cult that struggled within the substrata of Jewish culture.  So, can it be simple coincidence that the first versions of Mark and Matthew happened to make their appearance in the Roman Empire at this 50-55 CE timeframe?

And isn’t it strange that later New Testament books appeared either during or shortly after other periods of rebelliousness by the Jews?  There was war in Judea in 69, and Jerusalem fell in 70.  So is it simply coincidence that the revisions of Mark and Matthew came to pass between 70 and 80?  This was also the timeframe in which the destruction of the last three outposts of Jewish resistance took place; the Jewish strongholds of Machaerus,  Herodian, and Masada.  After another long siege in 79, Jerusalem was captured by the Romans.  In the period following this, 84-90, Paul supposedly came upon the scene and the books Acts of the Apostles and Luke were composed.

Continuing acts of civil disobedience throughout Jewish population centers necessitated constant monitoring, and in this general timeframe, 94-100, the books 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians were written.  Also in this timeframe the Pharisees declared that Italy, and especially Rome, was “unclean. ”  The composition of the book of Romans dates c. 100; 2 Corinthians and the editing of Ephesians occurred c. 100-105; 1 Timothy and Titus c.105-107; and Philemon c. 106-107.  The second great revolt by the Jews began c. 115, and one million Jews took  over Alexandria, Egypt and held it for nearly a year.  By 116 there were also uprisings in Parthia and other places.  2 Peter, 1,2 and 3 John,and the book of Jude all date c. 110-115.

Another great Jewish revolt began in 131 under the leadership of Bar Cocheba, and the Roman troops that were sent to restore order there suffered a surprising defeat.  Roman patience with Jewish spiritual obstinacy was running thin.  The violence of the rebellion in Jerusalem lasted for four years and was climaxed by the Emperor Hadrian having Jerusalem destroyed and forbidding any Jew from setting foot on the site.  Can it be mere coincidence that the book of Revelations was written c. 135-138, the period following that violent insurrection of the Jews?

Curiously, however, the last book to be written in the New Testament lineup was the book Hebrews, written between 138-140—incorporated after Revelations was composed.  In the book of Hebrews, chapter 8, the messianic expectations of the Jews is portrayed as having been answered in Jesus, stating that the Aaronic priests had served only “…the shadow of heavenly things…” (8:5) of which Jesus Christ is alleged to serve the realities.  Thus in Hebrews 8:6-13 there is offered a “new covenant” for the Jewish people.  Even at that late date the Roman rule still was not out to destroy Jewish culture; it only sought to soften the Jewish obsessive pretense of spiritual elitism.

One might say that this is another example of wisdom for keeping church and state separate.